Fluid heater cleaners



July 20, 1965 E. JQMATTHEWS FLUID HEATER CLEANERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed D86. 17, 1962 \%\NN\N m9 moi: mmwvw m mmwsw QM \vmmwwmm \M mm ww Inventor Z?u2/ I Allorrfgi 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1962 v Inventor I m amm a 4 Z 6 Atlorneyj July 20, 1965 E. J. MATTHEWS 3,195,165

FLUID HEATER CLEANERS Filed Dec. 17, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 A ttorney;

July 20, 1965 E. J. MATTHEWS FLUID HEATER CLEANERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 17, 1962 July 20, 1965 E. J. MATTHEWS FLUID HEATER CLEANERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 17, 1962 United States Patent 3,195,165 FLUKE HEATER QLEANERS Eric l7. Matthews, London, England, assignor to Babcoelr & Wilcox Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Dec. 17, 1362, er. No. 245,263

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Dec. 21, 961,

2 Claims. (Cl. 15-317) This invention relates to fluid heater cleaners of the kind having a nozzle tube which may be advanced longitudinally from and withdrawn to a retracted position. The complete specification of our British Patent No. 636,052 discloses such a cleaner in which the nozzle tube may be designed to advance through a substantial distance such as fifteen feet and in which a single motor effects reciprocation and rotation of the nozzle tube. The motor, however, is mounted on the nozzle tube carriage and necessitates the use of trailing leads.

The present invention enables a stationary driving motor to be used. Consequently trailing leads are dispensed with and it is possible to establish the motor in an accessible position where the motor can readily be inspected and serviced and Where emergency operating gear may be disposed. At the same time, notwithstanding the relative motion between the driving motor and the nozzle carriage, the invention provides simple but effective means for advancing, retracting and rotating the nozzle tube. The stationary motor and the simple but effective means for effecting advance, retraction and rotation of the nozzle tube are particularly advantageous when the nozzle tube is to have a very long travel, for example, a travel of up to forty feet.

In a fluid heater cleaner having a rotatable nozzle tube, which may be advanced longitudinally from and withdrawn to a retracted position, according to the present invention flexible driving means extending in the direction of reciprocation of the nozzle tube and coupled with reversible driving means and with the nozzle tube to determine the longitudinal movements thereof are adapted also to efiect rotation of the nozzle tube during reciprocation thereof.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation, mostly in section on the axis of the nozzle tube, of a long travel lance soot blower, the nozzle tube being in retracted position and portions of the blower being broken away;

FIGURE 2 is a plan of the soot blower;

FIGURE 3 is a portion of FIGURE 1 to an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is sectional elevation on the line IVIV of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 partly diagrammatically shows the arrangement of portions of the soot blower in plan view, looking in an upward direction;

FIGURE 6 shows a portion of FIGURE 5 to a larger scale and in greater detail; and

FIGURE 7 is a side elevation of a rear portion of the sootblowers.

Referring to the drawings, the soot blowers illustrated is a long travel lance blower which includes a nozzle tube 1 of or of about 40 feet in length which may be advanced from the retracted position in which it is shown through an aperture in a wall 2 of the casing of a tubulous fluid heater with which the soot blower is associated. The forward end 3 of the nozzle tube 1 is provided with a pair of nozzle apertures 4 one diametrically opposite to the other and adapted to dischar e steam for tube cleaning purposes at right angles to the axis of the nozzle tube. While the nozzle tube is in the retracted position the forward end hldild E la-tented July 20, i965 3 thereof is situated within a wall box 5 the inner end of which is open.

The nozzle tube 1 extends immediately outside the wall 2 through a nozzle tube front support 6 which is fixedly mounted on a frame or track member 7'; the nozzle tube is also supported by a nozzle tube rear support 8 at the rear end 9 of the nozzle tube and extends through a nozzle tube intermediate support ill between the front and rear supports 6 and S. The rear end intermediate supports 8 and it) are mounted on the frame '7 with the capability of movement along said frame in the direction towards and away from the mentioned aperture in the wall 2.

The intermediate nozzle tube support lb consists of a carriage 11 having four wheels 12, a casing 13 secured to the carriage and surrounding the nozzle tube, a spider carrying four rollers 15': of concave surfaces contacting the nozzle tube at equiangularly spaced locations therearound and an inner member 21 which carries the spider and which is positioned Within the casing 13 by ball bearings 22 which permit rotary movement of the inner member around the nozzle tube axis with respect to the casing 13. With this construction of support, the nozzle tube may be rotated within the support and relative longitudinal movements of the nozzle tube and the support are possible. The pairs of wheels 12 on respective sides of the carriage 11 extend between the upper and lower flanges of respective channel irons 23 forming tracks extending 10ngitudinally of the frame 7 so that the support ll) may be moved towards or away from the mentioned Wall aperture.

The nozzle tube front support 6 differs from the nozzle tube intermediate support ill by the absence of a wheeled carriage, but is otherwise of the same construction; the casing 13 thereof is fixedly mounted on the frame 7.

The nozzle tube rear support 8 consists of a carriage 24 having four Wheels 25 also fitting between the flanges of the track-forming channel irons 23, a casing 26 secured to the carriage 24, a ring 2'7 to which the nozzle tube rear end 5 is welded and an inner member 28 which carries the ring at its front end and which is positioned within the Casing 26 by ball bearings 29 which permit rotary movement of the inner member 28 around an extension of the nozzle tube axis with respect to the casing 26. The said inner member 23 carries at its rear end a gland 3i) through which there extends a steam feed tube 31.

The steam feed tube 31 is welded at its rear end to a support 32 mounted on the frame 7 at the rear end thereof. The said feed tube extends co-axially of the nozzle tube 1 and its front end (not shown) lies Within the nozzle tube in all longitudinal positions of the latter. The nozzle tube rear support 8 acts also as a support for the feed tube 31 and the feed tube is also supported between the nozzle tube rear support 8 and the feed tube support 32 by feed tube intermediate support 33, which consists of a carriage 34 having four wheels 35 also fitting between the flanges of the track-forming channel irons 23 and mounting brackets 41 for a pair of rollers 42 of concave surfaces, one roller contacting the feed tube 351 from above and the other from below.

The steam feed tube 31 is adapted to convey to the interior of the nozzle tube 1 for tube cleaning purposes steam of which the supply may be controlled by operation of a steam valve 43 in an elbow piece 4 secured to the feed tube rear support 32;. Actuating means hereinafter described are provided for automatically opening and closing the valve 43 during operation of the soot blower.

The power required for advancing and withdrawing the nozzle tube is provided by a reversible electric motor 45 mounted on the frame '7' near the front end thereof. The motor 45 is arranged to drive a chain sprocket as at the upper end of an upright shaft 47 through speedreducing gear in a casing 48, an upright shaft 49, a

3 sprocket St) on the shaft 49, a chain 51 and a sprocket 52 on the lower end of the shaft 47. The sprocket 46 engages a chain 53 the two strands of which extend parallel to the frame 7 and which engages near the rear end of the frame 7 a sprocket 54 on the upper efnd of an upright shaft 55.

One of the two strands of the chain 53 is attached to the carriage 24 of the nozzle tube rear support 8 and thereby when the motor is driven in the appropriate direction the nozzle tube 1 may be advanced from retracted to fully projected position and when the motor is reversed withdrawn from fully projected to retracted position. The return strand of the chain engages teeth of a sprocket 61 on a spindle 62 journalled in the support 8 and carrying a bevel wheel 63; the bevel wheel 63 meshes with a bevel wheel 64 provided with a peripherally extended keyway S accommodating a key 81, the keyway permitting 90 of lost motion between the bevel wheel 64 and the inner member 28. When the motor is driven so that one chain strand moves the support 8 for longitudinal movement of the nozzle tube, the return chain strand, passing the support 8 in the reverse direction and engaging by its links teeth of the sprocket 61, rotates the sprocket and by consequence also the nozzle tube 1, once the lost motion afforded by the extended keyway 80 has been taken up, which is driven by thebevel wheels 63 and 64 and the inner member 28. Two guide plates 68 the corners of which are rounded off are welded to a short length of angle section 69, the plates 68 engaging respective rollers of the chain 53 and ensuring contact of the return chain strand with teeth of the sprocket 61.

The two strands of the chain 53 extend close to the carriage 34 of the feed tube intermediate support 33 and a link with an extended side plate 70 is arranged to engage with projections 71, 72 beneath the carriage 34 so thatwhen the chain moves the support 8 and the nozzle tube 1 from the retracted position towards the fully projected position, then after a certain distance has been covered the side plate 70 catches the projections 71, 72 on the carriage 34 and advances the carriage to ensure that too great a length of feed tube shall not be unsupported' Similarly, during the reverse movement of the support 8 and the nozzle tube 1 from the fully projected to the retracted position, projections 73, 74 on the carriage 11 of the nozzle tube intermediate support 10, which has been carried forwardly by the contact therewith of the carriage 24 of the nozzle tube rear support 8, are caught by a second link with an extended side plate 75 after a certain distance has been covered in the withdrawing direction by the support 8 and the nozzle tube, and the carriage is moved in the withdrawing direction to ensure that not too great a length of nozzle tube shall be unsupported outside the wall 2.

In the operation of the soot blower, according to the direction of rotation of the driving motor 45, the carriage 24 is moved under the control of the chain 53 in the one direction to advance the nozzle tube 1 or in the reverse direction to withdraw the nozzle tube. Thanks to the relative movement between the carriage 24 and the second run of the chain 53, the sprocket 61 in mesh therewith drives through the bevel wheels 63, 64 to efifect rotation of the nozzle tube 1 in the one sense or in the other sense, according to whether the nozzle tube is being advanced or retracted. Upon reversal of rotation of the driving motor 45, the nozzle tube 1 is moved a short distance longitudinally with no corresponding rotation, on account of the lost motion between the driven bevel wheel 64 and the inner member 28, and, when rotation of the nozzle tube is resumed, for each longitudinal position of the nozzle tube the directions of'discharge of cleaning fluid are displaced 90 to the directions which prevailed at the said location prior to the reversal of movement.

The chain links with extended side plates 70, 75 for engaging the respective auxiliary support carriages 34, 11 are so located that, during advancement of the nozzle tube 1, at or about themiddle of the advancement the nozzle tube carriage 24 engages the nozzle tube auxiliary carriage 11 to push the latter forwardly and at or about the same time extended side plate '76 engages the feed tube auxiliary carriage 34 to draw the latter forwardly, whilst, duringretraction of the nozzle tube, when the nozzle tube reaches a position at or near the middle of its retraction the nozzle tube main carriage 24 engages the feed tube auxiliary carriage 34 in order to push the latter rearwardly and at or about the same time the extended side plate engages the nozzle tube auxiliary support carriage 11 to draw the latter rearwardly.

In order to permit adjustment of the position in the reciprocatory motion of the nozzle tube 1 at which the valve 43 is operated, an elongated plate 82 formed along its length with a series of holes 83 is secured to the nozzle tube main support carriage 24 and a pin 84 fitted with a roller 85 is clamped to the plate at any selected hole. The pin 84 and roller 85 are arranged to effect operation of the valve 43 through engagement and rotation of a forked lever 86 joined by a connecting rod 87 to the longer arm 38 of a bellcrank lever 89, the shorter arm 99 of which by depressing a valve spindle 91 against a biassing spring 92 effects opening of the valve to admit steam to the feed tube 31. During forward movement of the carriage 24 the roller 85 engages one side of the fork to rotate the forked lever 86 in a sense to compress the spring 92 and open the valve 43, the roller carrying the lever 86 over a dead centre so that the valve 43 remains open until, on the return of the carriage 24, the roller 85 engages the other side of the forked lever 86 to rotate that lever and eifect closure of the valve.

The pin carrying the roller may be positioned in any of the holes in order to vary the position in the reciprocatory motion of the nozzle tube 1 at which the valve 43 is operated.

The means described above for driving the chain connected to the nozzle tube carriage allows flexibility as regards disposition of the said means which may readily be located on either side of the beam at the position described or at the rear end of the beam.

I claim:

1. In a fluid heater cleaner having a rotatable nozzle tube movable longitudinally to advance the nozzle tube from, and to withdraw the nozzle tube to, a retracted position, an inner tube projecting internally of the nozzle tube and connected to a source of cleaning fluid, a main carriage supporting and connected with the nozzle tube movable with the nozzle tube along a track and operating mechanism including a fixed driving motor connected with the main carriage through a driving chain secured to the main carriage and passing over front and rear guide wheels mounted 'at the ends of the track, wherein front and rear auxiliary carriages movable along the track and relative to the nozzle tube are positioned on the track respectively forwardly and rearwardly of the main carriage and respectively support the nozzle tube and the inner .tube, such that, in the retracted position, the front auxiliary carriage is positioned approximately mid-way between the front and rear guide wheels, and the rear auxiliary carriage is positioned in abutment with the main carriage on the track adjacent the rear guide wheel, and front and rear coupling means are provided on the driving chain respectively engageable with abutments on the front and rear auxiliary carriages to move the front auxiliary carriage rearwardly from a position adjacent the front guide wheel during withdrawal of the nozzle tube and to move the rear auxiliary carriage forwardly to a position approximately mid-way between the front and rear guide wheels to support the inner tube at a mid-portion thereof during advancement of the nozzle tube.

2. A fluid heater cleaner as claimed in claim I, wherein a projection carried on the main carriage and adjustable in position in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the nozzle tube abuts, during movement of the nozzle tube, an arm connected with a spindle of a valve communicating with a source of supply of cleaning fluid, whereby the valve is moved to an open position during advancement of the nozzle tube and moved to a closed position during Withdrawal of the nozzle tube.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,668,978 2/54 De Mart 15317 2,760,222 8/56 Anderson l53 17 2,883,694- 4/59 Hibner et a1. 153 17 2,897,532 8/59 Cantieri 15-3 X 2,932,053 4/60 McColl 153l7 WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A FLUID HEATER CLEANER HAVING A ROTATABLE NOZZLE TUBE MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY TO ADVANCE THE NOZZLE TUBE FROM, AND TO WITHDRAW THE NOZZLE TUBE TO, A RETRACTED POSITION, AN INNER TUBE PROJECTING INTERNALLY OF THE NOZZLE TUBE AND CONNECTED TO A SOURCE OF CLEANING FLUID, A MAIN CARRIAGE SUPPORTING AND CONNECTED WITH THE NOZZLE TUBE MOVABLE WITH THE NOZZLEL TUBE ALONG A TRACK AND OPERATING MECHANISM INCLUDING A FIXED DRIVING MOTOR CONNECTED WITH THE MAIN CARRIAGE THROUGH A DRIVING CHAIN SECURED TO THE MAIN CARRIAGE AND PASSING OVER FRONT AND REAR GUIDE WHEELS MOUNTED AT THE ENDS OF THE TRACK, WHEREIN FRONT AND REAR AUXILIARY CARRIAGES MOVABLE ALONG THE TRACK AND RELATIVE TO THE NOZZLE TUBE ARE POSITIONED ON THE TRACK RESPECTIVELY FORWARDLY AWND REARWARDLY OF THE MAIN CARRIAGE AND RESPECTIVELY SUPPORT THE NOZZLE TUBE AND THE INNER TUBE, SUCH THAT, IN THE RETRACTED POSITION, THE FRONT AUXILIARY CARRIAGE IS POSITIONED APPROXIMATELY MID-WAY BETWEEN THE FRONT AND REAR GUIDE WHEELS, AND THE REAR AUXILIARY CARRIAGE IS POSITIONED IN ABUTMENT WITH THE MAIN CARRIAGE ON THE TRACK ADJACENT THE REAR GUIDE WHEEL, AND FRONT AND REAR COUPLING MEANS ARE PROVIDED ON THE DRIVING CHAIN RESPECTIVELY ENGAGEABLE WITH ABUTMENTS ON THE FRONT AND REAR AUXILIARY CARRIAGES TO MOVE THE FRONT AUXILIARY CARRIAGE REARWARDLY FROM A POSITION ADJACENT THE FRONT GUIDE WHEEL DURING WITHDRAWAL OF THE NOZZLE TUBE AND TO MOVE THE REAR AUXILIARY CARRIAGE FORWARDLY TO A POSITION APPROXIMATELY MID-WAY BETWEEN THE FRONT AND REAR GUIDE WHEELS TO SUPPORT THE INNER TUBE AT A MID-PORTION THEREOF DURING ADVANCEMENT OF THE NOZZLE TUBE. 